israel has told the united nations that more than a million palestinians must leave the northern gaza strip within the next 2a hours. the un says the situation on the ground in gaza is "dire" with food and water running low. the us secretary of state has vowed unending american support for israel during a visit to the country. and in other news, the leading republican candidate for us house speaker suddenly drops out of the race. hello, i'm caitriona perry.

text reading this text you are very well this text you are the united nations says that israel has warned all palestinians in the northern portion of the gaza strip to relocate to the south of the territory in the next 2a hours. a spokesman for the un says the military warning was directed at more than a million palestinians. and it comes as israeli forces say they have dropped 6,000 bombs on targets within in gaza since fighting broke out. israel has cut off fuel, water and electricity supplies to more than 2 million people in an effort to force hamas to release some 150 israeli hostages. amid the destruction on the ground, the un also warns some 50,000 pregnant women in gaza are unable to access essential health services or clean water. israeli tanks were seen gathering thursday along the boundary with gaza — signs of a possible ground invasion. meanwhile, the confirmed death toll continues to rise. gaza's health ministry says at least 1,537 palestinians have been killed in israel's retaliatory air strikes so far. that number includes some 276 women and 50 children. another 6,612 palestinians have been wounded. and in israel, more than 1300 people have been confirmed dead from hamas�* surprise attacks

over the weekend. us secretary of defense lloyd austin is travelling to israel on friday, one day after secretary of state antony blinken�*s visit, to meet with prime minister netanyahu and members of israel's newly formed war cabinet. the european union commission president ursula von der leyen will also arrive on friday. and on thursday night, prime minister rishi sunak spoke by phone with mr netanyahu to reaffirm the uk's support for israel. the uk is also deploying surveillance aircraft and two royal navy ships to the eastern mediterranean. 0ur bbc correspondents are reporting across the region. international editor jeremy bowen begins our coverage from kibbutz be�*eri in southern israel. he sent this report — and a warning, it contains distressing details.

more of gaza has been flattened by israeli bombing. israel insists its targets are all based on intelligence, to kill the men who massacred israelis and to continue the job of breaking hamas. but hundreds of civilians of all ages have also been killed and israel has been accused of answering the war crimes of hamas with ones of its own. antony blinken, us secretary of state, flew in. he offered solidarity, more military aid and assurances for benjamin netanyahu, israel's prime minister, that america has israel's back. we are here. we are not going anywhere. he compared hamas to the killers of islamic state and said, "the way israel fights them matters". the value that we place on human life and human dignity, that's what makes us who we are. and we count them among our greatest strength. that's why it's so important to take every possible precaution

to avoid harming civilians. at this police station in tel aviv, israelis report relatives who have been missing since hamas attacked. yonatan�*s mother disappeared from kibbutz be�*eri, on the gaza border. his family believe that if peace diplomacy worked — the americans last tried 10 years ago — israelis and palestinians might have been spared this agony. yonatan is here to give a dna sample but he's hoping his mother is alive as a hostage. vivian silver, his mother, is one of israel's best known campaigners for peace with the palestinians. she was holding meetings only a few days before the hamas attacks. what do you think your mother would be saying about everything that is happening right now? that this is the outcome. this is the outcome of war,

of not striving for peace. we've been, you know, israelis have, let's say, living on our soul and this is what happens. you know, it's very overwhelming, but it's not completely surprising. we couldn't. .. it's not... ..sustainable to live in a state of war for so long. and now it bursts, it burst. vivian was making light of it at first last saturday, until she couldn't. "we may be witnessing

a massacre. enough sense of humour, "i'm just telling everybody, "telling you i love you." and i write back, "i love you, mum". she writes, "they're in the house now". i said, "i have no words. "i'm with you." she writes, "i feel you". and that was it, that's the last message. their kibbutz was one of the first targets of hamas last saturday, as it's right on the border. they shot dead the people in this car, stormed in and set about killing israelis. by the time the army fought its way back into be�*eri, you can see the ferocity of the fight. it was too late to stop the massacre. the body bags of residents are still being brought out of the ruins. volunteers from an organisation

called zaka that recovers jewish dead for a religious burial took us to the house where vivian silver lived, horrified by everything they've seen. it's not people. it cannot be people making something like that. it can't be! it doesn't go with people! there's not even a studio in hollywood that could make a horror movie as bad as what we have seen here. i can't understand, somebody take kids... they didn'tjust kill them, they mutilated, they burned, they... ..severed. it's impossible to describe. the army didn't allow us much time in the street where vivian silver lived and brought up herfamily. she moved here long before hamas emerged, for space and country air. we hope to find out more

about what happened to her. but if there were clues, they were consumed by fire. vivian's house and her neighbour's were gutted. we don't know if she's alive or dead. herfamily, like so many others, waits for news, good or bad. it's totally burned down. the remains of the house and destruction at the kibbutz are evidence for most israelis that it is dangerously wrong for peace activists like vivian to argue that a century of attempted military solutions to the conflict have failed. the survivors have left the kibbutz. now, it is a staging area as the army waits for the order to enter gaza. as the soldiers prepare, israel's government vows that this time its forces will destroy hamas. jeremy bowen, bbc news, kibbutz be�*eri.

these are more pictures coming in from gavin. back crew for gazza. the destruction has left more than 84,000 people homeless just on thursday alone, according to the united nations. let's show you pictures from gaza city now and a reminder of that news just coming in — according to a un spokesperson, the israeli military is informing around 1 million palestinians in the northern portion of the gaza strip to relocate to the south of the territory in the next 2a hours. the un has asked for the evacuation order to be rescinded, saying it could lead to a "calamitous situation." meanwhile, reports suggest that us officials have quietly stopped iran from accessing $6 billion in humanitarian funds in light of hamas�*s attack on israel. the iranian assets were initially unfrozen as part of a recent prisoner swap deal between tehran and the us. republican critics claim the money empowered iran's support for hamas — something the biden

administration has categorically denied. during his visit to israel, antony blinken stressed that washington has full control over the funds. none of the funds that have now gone to qatar have actually been spent or accessed in any way by iran. indeed, funds from that account are overseen by the treasury department, can only be dispensed for humanitarian goods, food, medicine, medical equipment, and never touch iranian hands. we have strict oversight of the funds and we retain the right to freeze them. earlier, i spoke to former us congresswomanjane harman about the us response to the israel—gaza war congresswoman harman, thanks forjoining us. secretary of state antony blinken has arrived in israel. he met the prime minister there.

one of his goals is to try to secure the release of the 100—150 people being held hostage including some americans. how likely is it that he will succeed at that? it is a very hard project because they are also held with others who are israeli and maybe other nationalities as well. sorting people out will be very difficult. what seems to me to be happening — and i applaud both the us and israel for doing this — is that troops are now massed around the border of gaza but the ground offensive has really not started and just maybe this is a moment for hamas, such that it is, to think, "wait a minute — we will be obliterated if this goes ahead "and maybe we would like to negotiate a different "outcome for ourselves". it is also moment perhaps for the whole neighbourhood and that been worked as well to call on cooler heads. i think that would be great but i want to state that, as tony blinken did,

that this is a moment for moral clarity. it is very clear who the aggressor is, very clear which side committed these horrific war crimes, and israel has a right to defend itself. there are fears in the area though that this could spread to west bank, lebanon, further afield. do you think it can be contained? i don't know. i know that robust diplomacy is going on. i don't know exactly what's happening and i don't think we should know. i think there should be quiet conversations. i don't know if tony blinken is coming home or touring the neighbourhood to have these conversations but there certainly is leverage by other countries if they choose to use it. i am very disappointed that egypt is not letting gazan refugees into egypt. you would think they could control that and they are the southern border of gaza and a lot of the tunnels start

right there, so they have been tolerating some of the bad action and they are now in the eye of israel and this is a chance for egypt to show what a good citizen it is which, obviously, i think would be helpful to egypt's cause. i also hope that other governments in the region — think the emirates, saudi arabia, maybe bahrain, certainlyjordan — have leverage as well and they have a lot to lose if this thing spirals out of control. israel has been accused of breaking international law by the un, by the eu, in terms of how it is endangering, as the claims go, civilian life in terms of the bombardment but also the blockade, denying people access to food, fuel, water. can the us are do more to persuade israel to take greater care of those people? i think we are all for not incurring casualties

of innocent civilians. the blockade is a very tough measure. 0n the other hand, compared to what? moving on the ground is a tougher measure. as i said earlier, i'm hoping what this will lead to is some form of negotiation. i do not know that it will lead to a negotiation, it would be a big deal if the neighbourhood were to participate in trying to be helpful and i hope it will participate. so, would you like to see israel allowing humanitarian aid corridor into gaza? well, i do not know enough about what is going on on the ground. of course, i am for humanitarian aid. what i am for in addition, however, is getting the hostages back, notjust us hostages, although that is the primary interest of the us, but other hostages who were so unfairly taken, and trying to find a way forward here that will end the violence and, remember, this is hard and cruel but let's focus on the photos from four or five days ago that

kibbutz on the gazan border where there was outright murder and mayhem and the most brutal crimes of babies and soldiers and others, decapitation and bullets into babies and you cannotjust say, "oh, dear, let's forget about that". 0bviously, no—one is saying that but what i'm saying is there is a strategy going on here. i do not know if it will work. is it difficult? yes, it is, but war is hell and i think if all the parties can try to get the hostages back and figure out a way to diminish or eliminate hamas leadership, i'm not talking about palestinians living

in gaza, i am talking about hamas leadership in gaza. that would be a very good outcome. thank you forjoining us, former congresswoman jane harman. thank you. we are watching pictures coming to us from macomb in a city where there are blasts happening and large plumes of smoke. we will keep you updated on this. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. us senator robert menendez pushed back against a new federal charge that he acted as a foreign agent of egypt, saying he is only loyal to the us. mr menendez and his wife are accused of providing, quote "sensitive us government information" to cairo. the pair have already pleaded not guilty to bribery charges. menendez has refused calls to resign. russia's olympic committee

has been banned, quote "with immediate effect" from 0lympic participation. the decision means that russia will not be eligible for any 0lympic funding but individual russian athletes can still participate in future olympic games as neutral competitors. the former boss of formula 1 racing, bernie ecclestone, has pleaded guilty to fraud. the 92—year—old failed to disclose nearly $500 million that he held in a trust in singapore. ecclestone has agreed to repay hundreds of millions of dollars to british authorities. he was sentenced to 17 months in prison, which has been suspended for two years. you're live with bbc news. the israeli army says it has hit gaza with around 6000 bombs since saturday. further blasts have been heard overnight in gaza as israeli forces aim to eradicate the hamas militant group in the wake of saturday's attacks. these are live pictures of gaza city now.

with plumes of smoke rising up from the air strikes. according to palestinian officials, more than 11100 people have been killed in gaza since israel launched retaliatory air strikes. the bombardment comes amid a total blockade. israel says it won't lift the restrictions unless hamas frees all hostages. the bbc has rare insight into what's happening in gaza because we have a handful of journalists inside the territory. one of them is adnan elbursh, a bbc arabicjournalist. while reporting what has happened in his district, he came across friends and neighbours who had been killed. he sent us this report, which contains upsetting scenes. my name is adnan elbursh, a reporter for bbc arabic and a resident of gaza. here in shifa hospital, bodies lay everywhere. the injured scream for help. you can never forget these sounds. among the dead and wounded my cameraman, mahmoud, has seen his friend malik.

malik has managed to survive, but his family have not. this is my local hospital. inside are my friends, my neighbours. this is my community. today has been one of the most difficult days in my career. i have seen things i can never unsee. this young girl's home was destroyed. her relatives have been killed and she needs help. my daughter is the same age. i want to give her a hug. in the chaos, we try to understand what is going on. a mother sits next to the bodies of her family. we were sleeping and they bombarded our house like everyone else. we don't have any resistance fighters in our building. all the building is full of residents.

120 people lived there. the corridors of the hospital are filled with bodies. the morgue can no longer cope. the bodies of the dead have to be laid on the floor outside the hospital entrance. you never want to become the story, yet in my city, i feel helpless as the dead were given no dignity and the injured are left in pain. we are looking at more pictures coming to us from gaza and we have seen blasts in the last few moments and large plumes of smoke in the area. for a few

days the israeli army has been saying it is preparing for an assault on hamas but the operation has not been authorised. tens of thousands of troops have been deployed to the border with gaza but if there is a growing defensive what will the challenge is the challenges they to make a defence correspondent has more. initially caught off—guard, but israel has long been preparing for the next phase of this war. their troops call it mini gaza — a multi—million dollar urban warfare centre to train for a potential ground assault. it even includes a labyrinth of tunnels. hamas is believed to have built more than 1,000. the tightly packed streets of gaza favours the defender. buildings to hide in. intense israeli air strikes, which have already reduced many to rubble, form barriers to any invading force.

even israel's overwhelming air power will not be able to destroy an army underground. hamas is very well prepared, they've prepared the underground booby—traps all around, but professionally i don't see how the goal which was written by the cabinet to destroy the military force of the hamas can be done without going with ground forces into the gaza strip. it wouldn't be the first time israel's defence force has entered gaza. but operations like this, the most recent in 2014, were short and limited. veterans say this time it could prove more costly if israel is to achieve its objective of crushing hamas. that time the decision was to have containment, to deter them, to weaken them.

it's not like today. today, we are facing on facing unprecedented threat to israel itself. if we tolerate what has been done this would be our dramatic mistake. more than 100 israeli hostages snatched by hamas, now held in gaza, will make any assault more difficult. the expectation is now for action. but its tanks and troops are ready and awaiting orders. israel has been massing its forces on the border here with gaza. hundreds of thousands of reservists are ready to fight. when i heard about it, i came tojoin the troops. when i heard about it, i came to join the troops.— when i heard about it, i came to join the troops. where were ou to join the troops. where were you came _

to join the troops. where were you came in — to join the troops. where were you came in sri _ to join the troops. where were you came in sri lanka came i to join the troops. where were l you came in sri lanka came back and you joined the troops right away. and you “oined the troops right awa . ~ ., away. we en'oy living and we need to away. we enjoy living and we need to fight for _ away. we enjoy living and we need to fight for right - away. we enjoy living and we need to fight for right to - need to fight for right to live. , ., live. the new unity government is et to live. the new unity government is yet to announce _ live. the new unity government is yet to announce its _ is yet to announce its next move. israel has been amassing its forces on the border with gaza. if israel is to achieve its objective of destroying hamas it will involve a lot of cells but history shows that invasion doesn't always go according to plan. from vietnam to iraq and afghanistan, even the worlds most advanced militaries can get bogged down. jonathan beale, bbc news, southern israel. to bring in a statement we have received from the un. office of the coordination

of humanitarian affairs and the department of safety and security in gaza were informed by their liaison officers in the israeli military that the entire population of gaza north of wadi gaza should relocate to southern gaza within the next 2a hours. this amounts to approximately 1.1 million people. the same order applied to all un staff and those sheltered in un facilities — including schools, health centres and clinics. the united nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences. the united nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation. that is that statement from the united nations that we have received as we are looking at pictures coming to us from gaza with multiple blasts and smoke plumes. do stay with us on bbc

news. we will keep you up—to—date. thanks for watching. take care. many parts in the state have been experiencing warm weather but a transition to something colder is upon us. a lot of rain through early parts of england and wales. the colder weather has reached scotland and northern ireland. the cold winds are coming in from the north but across the bulk of england and wales it is overcast with outbreaks at times. this is the weather front and when it clears away the colder weather will sweep in from the north. it is difficult to summarise the weather to friday across england and wales because it will change from heavy rain to sunny spells and perhaps some thunderstorms, gusty winds. about 50 miles an hour on the

south coast is a changeable picture on friday across england and wales but scotland and northern ireland a different story. scattered clouds, a few showers, windy and cold in the north and temperatures around 12 in edinburgh. 0nce temperatures around 12 in edinburgh. once the weather front clears on friday night and into saturday it opens the door for cold winds coming and into saturday it opens the doorfor cold winds coming in from the north. nothing unusual but it will be quite a shock to the system, especially those of us who have been experiencing high temperatures so far this month. saturday the winds are coming in from the north for a change rather than the south. and these are the temperatures on saturday 1a. so a degree maybe also around the average, colder than average i think in aberdeen around eight degrees celsius. and then saturday night into sunday, the winds will fall light in the centre of the country and with clear skies, that means cold weather, a touch of frost, i think even barely above freezing in rural spots in the south of the country.

but with that and with an area of high pressure building over the uk, it's going to be fabulously sunny apart from some showers in the northwest of scotland, but below average temperatures i think across the board, whether you're in the north or the south, it'll be around say ten, ten to 13 degrees. and that high pressure is with us monday and into tuesday. we're right in the middle of that high. that means light winds, perhaps a touch of frosts and murky, foggy mornings. but i think towards the end of the week, it looks as though things could turn a little more unsettled and once again, a little milder. that's it for me.

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voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. for the first time since russia's full—scale invasion, the war raging in ukraine is not dominating the international headlines and geopolitical discussion. as the israeli military targets gaza in response to hamas's brutal assault, will kyiv be impacted by the shift in attention to that escalation of conflict in the middle east? well, my guest is 0lha stefanishyna, ukraine's deputy by the shift in attention to that escalation of conflict in the middle east? well, my guest is 0lha stefanishyna, ukraine's deputy

prime minister for european and euro—atlantic integration. with the fighting attritional and winter looming, should